How we saved over $6000 on a trip to Aruba for our family of 4

January is typically pretty frigid in Northern Utah. It is about January when we start wishing we would have planned a trip to go somewhere warmer to thaw out our bones! Then, it takes us until April to actually get something planned and be on our way. This January was a big one for me because I was turning 40 and I decided I wasn’t going to wait until my birthday to plan something, so I began searching for somewhere memorable and warm back in September.

This is the view from our deck in Garden City, Utah (Bear Lake)

I had recently read that there is a bit of a sweet spot when booking tickets to Aruba with points, so I decided to check it out and subsequently booked it. Aruba stays about 80 degrees year round and is outside of the hurricane belt, so the weather is generally pretty perfect year round.

Did you know you can book an Air France award ticket by transferring points from your American Express to Air France…. but fly on Delta?!? I was able to find a great deal one way from SLC to Aruba on Air France at 14,500 flying blue points per person, so I transferred 58,000 American Express membership points to Air France to book 4 tickets for 14,500 points per person plus fees of $24.60/person. We have American Express points from our American Express Gold Business Card and our American Express Platinum Card (I was targeted for the 100,000 sign on bonus. You can see if you are targeted by checking cardmatch.com).

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The return trip I ended up booking through the Chase Portal with Jet Blue. Which means I got 1.5 cents per point in value because we have the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. The return trip cost me 76,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points plus $11.72 which equals 19,000 points per person.

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Another reason we decided on Aruba was because we had bought a Marriott timeshare presentation package (targeted email offer) at Newport Beach for $199, but decided we had been to California plenty of times, so I called and asked where else we could go! Aruba was the only out of the country option, so we switched it to Aruba. We did have to pay $699 total instead of the $199, but the hotel we stayed at (The Marriott Surf Club) during January is about $600/night so it was still a great deal for us. Timeshare presentation packages can be a great deal if you are willing to sacrifice a couple hours of your time and as long as you are good at saying no! We actually own a timeshare that my husband bought before we were married, so I know first hand what a rip off they can be. That being said, I know some people really like them. Just know that if you really want to buy a timeshare there are many people out there who are trying to get rid of theirs for pennies on the dollar…or you can just go to timeshare presentations and get a great deal at a beautiful place just for listening to the sales people talk for a couple of hours.

The Marriott Surf Club had a lazy river and several different pools. One pool had a small waterslide and one had a swim up bar and volley ball court. It was the most family friendly place we stayed.

After 4 nights at The Marriott Surf Club, we splurged for 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Aruba. It was 25,000 points per night and we stayed 2 nights for a total of 50,000 points. It had gorgeous grounds, a great waterslide, and we had told them it was my birthday and they brought up cake, macaroons, and a bottle of sparkling wine.

The last 2 nights we stayed at the Airport Hyatt which has only been open a couple of months. It was only 8,000 points per night and it is literally within 5 minutes walking distance of the airport and rental car agencies. We used these days to explore the island with a rental car and went to the other side of the island to Baby Beach which was my favorite beach.

View of the Aruba airport from the Hyatt Aruba Airport Hotel

The Airport Hotel was an great deal at 8,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points per night. It included one of the best free breakfast buffets I have had at a hotel in this price range. They had a huge spread and even made us pancakes and made to order omelets. The other hotels we stayed at didn’t include breakfast and we typically spent at least $50 for breakfast for our family of 4. Food is typically very expensive on Aruba as is the case with most islands we have been to.

This is only one side of the buffet, there were also cold cuts/cheeses, fruit/yogurt, juices and coffee!

The other benefit of this hotel is its proximity to the airport. In Aruba, you go through Aruban customs and US customs all in the Aruba airport. It’s quite a process and they recommend being there at least 3 hours in advance. If you fly out on Saturdays they tell you to be there even earlier! Staying at the airport hotel the night before you leave allows you to return your rental car the night before your flight and you can just walk to the airport after you eat breakfast.

Baby Beach was my favorite beach on the whole island. Crystal clear water and an awesome little snorkel spot. Also, I prefer to be surrounded with locals instead of tourists and we met several friendly locals at this beach. Staying at the airport hotel got us out of the touristy area and into the local scene.

Thanks to some great credit card perks, our whole family has Global Entry which really speeds up the customs process on the way home. We got to skip the line and go through the Global Entry line — which wasn’t a line at all! The credit cards we used to get our Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fees covered ($100/person-kids have to have their own) were The Platinum Card by American Express, The Chase Sapphire Reserve, and The Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Card x 2.

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Here is a breakdown of what we spent on airlines and hotels for our trip for our family of 4.

Airline tickets

SLC-AUA AirFrance 58,000 total AmEx points+ $24.60 per person ($98.40 total)

AUA-SLC JetBlue 76,000 + $11.72 per person ($46.88 total)

A round trip ticket on Delta to Aruba in January is about $800-$1100 per person.

Hotels

Marriott Surf Club 4 nights @$699

4 nights at the Marriott Surf Club in January is about $2100-$2600

Hyatt Regency Aruba 2 nights @50,000 points

2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Aruba is about $1250

Hyatt Place Aruba Airport 2 nights @ 8,000 points

2 nights at the Hyatt Place Aruba Airport is about $300

In total we spent 192,000 points and $844.28 on airline tickets and hotels. We earned these points with American Express and Chase credit card bonuses.

If you add up what we would have spent it would have been approximately $7000 for our family just to get to Aruba and stay there for 8 nights.

This vacation was our first big one since John (my husband) was diagnosed with Leukemia. He was diagnosed right after we got home from our last international trip to France and Belgium and we probably wouldn’t have taken this vacation if we had to pay out of pocket for it. We are constantly in awe of what this little hobby of ours has allowed us to do and want to help others create memories with their families as well.

What is holding you back from your next vacation?

By the way-many people ask-why do I help people for free. When you use my referral links to apply to cards, we both benefit! I get referral points for helping you find the card that is right for you. Plus, I get totally stoked when other people get great deals too!

Thanks for taking the time to check out our journey

Cheers!

AmyLou